Playing Around

Christopher Dallman

Tools

Christopher Dallman
Shugas, 702 S. Cascade Ave. June 26 328-1412 for more
Christopher Dallman's a bit edgy right now. When I spoke with the singer/songwriter, he was five days into giving up cigarettes, in anticipation of his upcoming national tour.

"Oh man, it's such a nightmare, but I'm most scared of when I hit the road. Traveling is so conducive to smoking," he says.

Listening to his album, 2004's Race the Light, you'd never guess that Dallman had anything to worry about other than failed romance or where to get his next cup of coffee. Sometimes folky, sometimes funky, his modest music revolves around daily life, with NYC serving as the backdrop. Now based out of Los Angeles, sunny California is having its effect on 27-year-old Dallman's songwriting.

"I don't feel the angst living in me that goes hand-in-hand with being in your early 20s," he says. "Now I'm trying to artfully tell a story."

Starting out in coffeehouses at the age of 16, the cat has acoustic pedigree all over him. But the best part of Dallman's bio is the fact that, as a child, he was cast in Sesame Street Live. That's right: The man sang "Rainbow Connection" with Big Bird. It doesn't get any cooler than that.